Invasive Streptococcus mutans induces inflammatory cytokine production of human aortic endothelial cells via regulation of TLR2 and NOD2

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

We focused on Streptococcus mutans as one of the new candidates of risk factors to cause atherosclerosis, and examined the recognition mechanism of human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) for invasive Streptococcus mutans. All six strains tested, consisting of three different serotypes of S. mutans, were capable of invading HAECs. HAECs invaded by S. mutans produced larger amounts of cytokines, and the messenger RNA expression of TLR2 and NOD2 increased markedly compared with that by non-invaded HAECs. The production of cytokines by invaded HAECs decreased when the expression of TLR2 and/or NOD2 mRNA of HAECs was inhibited. These results suggest that invasive S. mutans may induce inflammatory reaction of HAECs through the recognition process via TLR2 and NOD2.